The present invention relates generally to navigation systems and methods thereof, and more particularly, to navigation systems and methods for vehicles, and even more particularly, to navigation systems and methods that reduce/minimize the incidence criminal activity during transport of cargo along a route.
Electronic navigation systems and methods for directing vehicles along routes are fairly well known. For example, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/0227444, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a turn-by-turn navigation system including a positioning module for receiving positioning information and which is further capable of updating real time road information for purposes of providing turn-by-turn navigation information to a user. Somewhat similarly, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/0197764, which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a navigation system for a vehicle that provides updated route planning based upon current traffic volumes. Finally, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/0137793, which is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a navigation system for a vehicle that is capable of providing detour route calculation capabilities.
Common to the aforementioned navigation systems is their ability to receive signals from radio network systems such as Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems to determine the location of the navigation device as well as their ability to calculate a route between a start point and an end point. Route calculation between a start point and an end point is typically accomplished by applying a known “A Star” (A*) type algorithm, or derivative thereof, that is capable of determining a route that is most likely to take the shortest amount of time or which is the shortest distance between the start point and end point. Of course, as described in the aforementioned publications, other considerations, such as current traffic conditions, e.g. congestion, can be used to calculate a route between points. Additionally, common to most such devices is that they include visual and/or audible means, such as visual displays and loudspeakers, for communicating navigation instructions to a user along a route. Finally, most such devices include receivers for receiving radio signals from satellites, computers for performing route calculations, and memory devices for storing geographical information.
An important application of navigation systems and devices is their use in cargo transport industry. Indeed, in the context of the transport of cargo over land, for example, by tractor-trailers, semi-trucks and the like, such systems and devices have proved indispensable for increasing efficiency, lowering fuel consumption and ultimately lowering costs. However, while such devices have proved successful, the cargo transport industry continues to suffer substantial economic losses as a result of criminal activity in the form of theft of vehicles, theft of cargo and injury to operators. Recent studies show that the primary cause of titiis phenomenon results from the continuous growth of the cargo transport industry along with trends such as globalization and outsourcing. On one hand, these trends increase the industry's cost-efficiency trade-offs, while on the other hand they expose the cargo, truck and driver to criminal threats, hi fact, supply chain and transportation planners must optimize flows of goods across greater distances, and there is often a lack of knowledge regarding the specific geographical areas to be traversed during transport. Such lack of knowledge can leave drivers, vehicles and cargo vulnerable to theft and other criminal activity. Even if high risk areas could be visible to planners, they typically lack sufficient knowledge with regard to which routes should be chosen to optimize trip efficiencies while simultaneously minimizing the risk of theft and/or assault.
Available solutions to problems related to theft and the like have typically centered upon the use of electronic sensors, such as alarms, face/iris/fingerprint scanners, and the like. These devices mainly serve to discourage thieves in the furthering a criminal act, once it has been initiated. For example, vehicle alarms tend to scare off thieves once the alarm has been activated, and vehicle disabling devices are activated once a vehicle has been stolen. Other, soft-solutions have also been adopted. For instance, GPS and fleet management systems have been implemented which are capable of tracking and tracing a vehicle and its cargo in an effort to decrease the time of recovery operations in case of theft or trailer intrusion. However, while such solutions have generally proved helpful to discourage the furtherance of criminal activity, once initiated, they have generally proved insufficient for preventing/minimizing the likelihood that criminal activity will be initiated in the first place. What is needed then is a navigation system and device that prevents and/or minimizes the initiation of a criminal act against a vehicle and/or user in possession of such device.
The present invention generally comprises systems and methods for searching and generating safe end-to-end (origin-to-destination) travel routes for vehicles, and especially for cargo transport vehicles such as long haul tractor-trailers and semi-trucks. A primary goal of the invention is to prevent and/or minimize vehicle and cargo theft, as well as to prevent and/or minimize injury to operators of vehicles by preventing/minimizing the likelihood that criminal activity will be initiated. It should be appreciated by those having skill in the art that while the invention is described relative to cargo vehicles configured travel over land, e.g., tractor-trailers and other wheeled cargo transport vehicles, the following description is not intended to be limited to such types of vehicles, vehicles configured for travel over land, cargo vehicles, or vehicles for that matter. For example, it is possible to configure a portable navigation device to aid users in determining an appropriate walking path.
In a method according to the invention, a route trip can be determined by obtaining start point data, end point data, and crime risk data for at least one point along a possible trip route between the start point and the end point. Using this information, a portion of a safe trip route between the start point and an end point based on the crime risk data can be determined, and in at least one embodiment a computer is implemented that is capable of conducting the determination through calculations. A portion of the safe trip route can then be communicated via a navigation device, hi an embodiment of the invention, the start point data, the end point data and the crime risk data are transmitted to a computer, which can be a component of the navigation device or a remotely located computer in communication with the navigation device. In some embodiments, the remotely located computer is capable of determining a portion of the safe trip route and transmitting data related thereto to the navigation device. Preferably, the navigation device includes visual and audible communications devices, such as electronic display screens and loudspeakers, hi some embodiments, crime risk data is stored in a remote computer database which is then communicated to the navigation device. In other embodiments, the crime risk data can be loaded into the memory of the navigation device. In some embodiments, crime risk data can be obtained by the navigation device, for example, from a police radio transmitter, and then transmitted from the navigation device to the computer for calculation of a safe route (the computer can be a component of the navigation device or can be a remotely located computer). In some embodiments, calculating a trip route further includes obtaining item data regarding at least one item to be transported and communicating the item data to the computer. The item data can include characteristics of the item, such as the monetary value of the item, the physical transport requirements (volume of an item, weight of an item, quantity of an item, dimensions of an item, time constraints for transport, fragility of an item, spoilage potential, etc), transport destination, etc. In some embodiments, the item data can be communicated to the computer by the item itself, such as by means of RFID tags, bar codes, etc. associated with the item, hi some embodiments, the entire safe trip route between the start point and the end point can be calculated by the computer, but only a portion thereof is subsequently communicated by the navigation device, for example, so as to prevent an operator from knowing and communicating the route that is to be traversed to a criminal actor.
In a preferred embodiment, a method for navigating along a trip route comprises obtaining start point data, end point data and crime risk data and communicating the data to a computer. A portion of a safe trip route between the start point and the endpoint is calculated upon consideration of the crime risk data and a sub-portion thereof is communicated to a user via a navigation device. The user then proceeds along the sub-portion of the safe trip route until a specified point is reached. Upon reaching the specified point, a further sub-portion of the safe trip route is communicated to a user via the navigation device. Further sub-portions of the safe trip route can be continuously provided until the destination is reached.
A navigation system for navigating a safe trip route according to the invention generally includes a navigation device and a computer. The navigation device is configured to indicate a geographical position of the navigation device, the computer is in communication with the navigation device and is capable of calculating a safe trip route upon consideration of at least a start point, an end point, and crime risk data for at least one point along a possible route between the start point and the endpoint. Additionally, the navigation device can be configured to calculate the safe trip route upon consideration of item data. The navigation device is capable of communicating at least a portion of the safe trip route as the navigation device traverses the safe trip route. In some embodiments, the system further calculates the safe trip route upon consideration of item data pertaining to at least one item to be transported and/or information regarding an operator of a vehicle. In some embodiments, the navigation device can include a transceiver for sending and receiving radio communications from at least one radio network (GPS ornon-GPS).